1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to mechanical barrier prophylactic devices for preventing venereal infection and to mechanical barrier contraceptive devices for preventing conception. In particular, the present invention relates to condom or sheath devices.
2. Description of Related Art
Condom barrier prophylactic devices and barrier contraceptive devices are generally known in the overall population, as well as in the art, for their ability to prevent venereal infection and conception.
Condom devices generally are thin walled tubular constructions that have a closed end and an open end. The open end assumes a variety of shapes and configurations. As a consequence different condom devices achieve prophylaxis and contraception at varying levels of effectiveness, cost and convenience.
The more common types, male condoms, are placed on the penis prior to sexual contact. Other types, the so-called female condoms, are positioned intravaginally prior to sexual contact. The present invention is classified as a male condom.
A search of the prior art failed to uncover any prior art reference which discloses the condom device of the present invention. However, several prior art patents and unpatented prior art were uncovered which disclose various condom devices.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,735,621 discloses a female condom that includes a closed end tube with a collar shaped outwardly extending portion at the open end and elastic rings that maintain the position and shape of the device when in use.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,781,709 discloses a male condom that includes a closed end sleeve integral with an elongated sheet at the open end.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,664,104 discloses a condom system that includes cooperatively associated garments worn by the participants.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,834,113 discloses a prophylactic device adapted to be worn by the female and including a flat shield portion that spans the perineum.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,834,114 discloses a female condom that includes a shield coupled to a closed end tube.
The above-described prior art devices are intended to achieve prophylaxis and contraception, but have a number of common disadvantages which limit their convenience and increase their cost. Each device is comprised of or fabricated from more than a single component, making each relatively expensive and inconvenient to use. Further, each device limits the experience of the sexual act to less than that gained by the use of more convenient prophylactic and contraceptive devices.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,123,343 discloses a covering for a body organ comprising a flexible cot secured to the base of, and centrally located within, a fexible disk. This cover provides inferior prophylactic and contraceptive effectiveness due to its unrestrained disk.
Historically, the condom has been in existance for centuries. Himes points out evidence that implies condoms made of animal membrane were employed in Imperial Rome. Linen condoms were described by the Italian anatomist Fallopius in the sixteenth century. The successful vulcanization of rubber in the mid-nineteenth century lowered costs for the condom materially. Modern male condoms are fabricated in a single piece out of latex using automatic machinery.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,415,548 discloses a method for the manufacture of commercially available condoms. U.S. Design Pat. Nos. 252,949; 246,117; 246,118; and 246,119 disclose novelty condoms comparable in shape to commercially available male condom types.
Condoms of this type very often slip off during or following use. The possibility of infection or unwanted conception accompanies this event.
The sore of primary syphilis, or chancre, is usually found on the glans penis. Barlow points out the less common condom chancre found at the base of the shaft of the penis. In such cases the individual has taken the precaution of wearing a commercially available condom, which remained intact and in place, but a syphilis infection initiated on the part of the penis not covered by the condom.
The implication of this last limitation of current condom designs is horrific when viewed in terms of the current AIDS pandemic. Human Immuno Deficiency Virus can pass from female to male, or vice versa, via the unprotected skin at the base of the penis shaft or the scrotum.